Have you seen the latest ads for Direct TV? They feature a family of “settlers” living in a modern neighborhood, where the father holds firm to old fashioned ways. In one spot, the father tells his son, “Now go churn us some butter and make your own clothes.”

The ads remind me of the stark contrasts that exist in accounts payable.

In one corner are the “settlers” holding firm to old-fashioned ways: piles of paper and teams of people handling data entry, troubleshooting problem invoices, and answering supplier phone calls about delayed payments.

In the other corner are the forward-thinkers taking full advantage of business networks, where invoice processing is automated and collaboration brings new opportunities to manage corporate spend, cash and working capital, and optimize the financial supply chain.

It’s a tale of two ways of working that produce different outcomes. Long-time vs. real-time processing. Spend out of control vs. spend under control. AP as overhead vs AP as strategic asset.

In a digital economy, trading partners that connect and collaborate over open and intelligent networks work smart, run simple, and outperform their peers.

But how do you get there?

There are many paths to follow, and you can hear from organizations leading the way at SAP Ariba Live, March 14-16 at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. This annual event features networking opportunities and valuable educational sessions. Here, you can learn how business networks overcome transaction bottlenecks to enable touchless processing, breakthroughs in electronic payments, invoicing against contracts, new strategies for managing cash and working capital, and more.

Isn’t it time you settled in to the digital economy? Then come join us at SAP Ariba Live.